Arts Portfolio

Ok, a bit of a weird title. You might even say it’s pretentious or trying to be “arty”. Well I guess this is an “arty” site so I can probably get away with it, but the reality is this subject is something I have thought about and written about previously. Before I studied illustration I did a year of an animation degree in Newport, Wales. It probably wasn’t the best course for me, I had a great time but I didn’t work that hard and I don’t think the tutors liked me. I believe this because of the way they talked to me and the fact that I would sometimes get lower marks than other people even on joint projects where we did the work together.

One project in particular was a short film about four types of music. Another student and I thought up four genres of music between us, one of the genres I choose was hip-hop/rap, something I was really into at the time. I think the final film was quite good, but they questioned the fact that the hip-hop piece was about gangsters, guns and violence. I responded that this was what the music was about, but I was told it wasn’t and that not only was I typecasting but I was being racist. This is quite simply not true, I am not a racist and I am deeply apposed to racism in all of its forms.

Continue Reading »

A gathering of Authors congregated to celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday at the Great Hall, King’s College, London, yesterday. It was well attended with Authors of all genres, novelists, poets, writer’s of business manuals and crime. A good evening was had by all as we voiced our opinions, listened to a reading by the Poet Laureate, drank endless amounts of champagne and generally got to know one another, so much so that I have been invited to fellow authors book signings.

Well having written of my life in several volumes, I would have considered this nigh on impossible but after attending a workshop with BBC Southern Radio last week, I have changed my mind. It was a long arduous day and condensing anything from your life to 250 words meant picking one solitary event that meant something to you and spoke a thousand words.
My subject was violence in the home, and how that can have a profound effect on children involved, leaving everyone with haunting memories. Amazing that so few words can portray so much……………………………in peace, Janet

I started painting 6 years ago. I’d had this romantic notion of being a painter but now the time had come, I didn’t actually have a clue what I was going to paint!

I was given a book, one of those huge hard backed ones full of beautiful glossy photographs of African women. They were decorated with fabulous jewellery. I decided to try and paint one of these women. I was really fascinated by the tiniest beads and the repetition of the strands. It seemed that by repeating the same object several times, they somehow took on a different meaning.

I had a big problem painting from photographs. Not only were these copyrighted but it felt like I was cheating. My parents had discouraged me from becoming an artist because I’d spent most of my childhood copying pictures. They felt that this was not showing true talent or skill. I don’t really agree with this, it’s a different art form, but for me, I wanted to be original. I also wanted to have a message, not just paint for the sake of painting. Continue Reading »

Its 7.58 am on a Saturday. Normally I like to have a lie in on a Saturday to get some rest for the week ahead. But today, like yesterday I am up before 7 as I am waiting for a delivery. I hate waiting for things, but above all I really hate waiting for deliveries. You see the postal service around here is crazy! They just pop round when they feel like it, and you can guarantee they will try to deliver your parcel the moment you walk away from the front door as you need to go to the toilet or get a drink. It’s as if they know.

Ok, I am in full on moan mode. Its something I have to do now and then to let off some steam (many members from the Voodoochilli forum will know this). But there is a reason I am moaning here and writing it down. When I studied illustration often we were set specific projects to illustrate, for example they might have said we had to do a 3 piece triptych based on communicating an idea taken from a topical piece of news. These sorts of projects were relatively easy to get your head around and were reserved mostly for the first and second years of study. The third year however was based on self directed study, meaning that we would have to find our own subjects and inspiration to work on. I happened to be interested in outsider art and mental illness and it made great material to work with, and nearly everyone picked subjects that somehow related to their own interests. We essentially illustrated ourselves. Continue Reading »

A friend of mine, Trevor Morris, writes articles for the Dorset Echo. He lives here in France and has written articles almost weekly about the trials, tribulations and joys of living in France. He puts a very humouristic slant on everything, including my art! He intends putting all of these articles in a book and this will be published in the next couple of months. He has written the following article about artists in France in general but includes information about me. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Cathy Savels, www.cathysavels.com

Not so long ago, wealthy families who cast out their black sheep put them on a ship France. Once the ne’er-do-well landed he would make his way to Paris, find himself a garret, buy a set of paintbrushes, and starve to death. Well, in fact it would be a race to see whether the starvation would get to him before the absinthe had a chance to rot away his brain and disintegrate his vital organs.

This was all very noble. It got rid of unwanted relatives, kept a few backstreet cafes in business, and even produced the odd bit of artwork into the bargain. Things have changed. It seems that you no longer have to come from a fabulously wealthy background to become an artist. Anybody can do it, even the working classes. One thing has not changed. They still come to France. Continue Reading »

SaraJane, my enthusiastic upstairs neighbor on this beautiful block in paradise, came by not so very long ago, to tell me that the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs where playing their season football game on local television. Now, I like Sara (without an H). She’s bright, funny and a bundle of preoccupied positive energy. So I reminded her, as gently as I knew how, that Baseball - not Football, was my sport of choice and that, in either case, I didn’t watch T.V. anymore.

She gave me the same puzzled look that I get from everyone in my world who finds out that the “boob-tube” isn’t part of life’s equation
for me.
After all, this is America!. . . land of the formerly free and home of the “you’re supposed to have one of everything Walmart sells” mentality. Continue Reading »

After months of not being seen out and about in the southernmost city, I found my way down to happy hour at my neighborhood watering hole. Taking my seat on a stool beside my old friends Captain Finbar and Harry the Dutchman, bartender Angus cracked open a round cold ones and commented on my absence, “hey man, haven’t seen you around much lately! Got yourself a new woman?” Without answering, I took a long slow serious swallow of what was my first cold draft in ages. The Captain and the Dutchman just looked at each other, shrugged and shook their heads. The lovely Smithers, not a shy girl and also working behind the bar, reminded Angus, in her most braggadocios brogue, “That boy’s got no time for a new woman, he’s been living with his art!”

The bar went so quiet we could hear Finbar’s gold tooth fall from his agape mouth into his rum and coke. It was true! I knew it and so did most of the big dogs around the outdoor waterfront bar. I was shacked up and hell-bent for who knew what. Angus served up another round and as we all sat around drinking, talking and listening to Moose play the blues onstage, the sun sank into the sea. Soon enough, I was feeling my Mexican toilet water with lime, singing along, smiling and feeling, as always, at home. But in the back of my head, that little voice kept whispering, “you ought to get back”. I couldn’t refuse the urgent urgings, “you’ve been away too long”. I slammed back my last mouthful, quietly slid from my stool and skulked back down the boardwalk toward my studio. Continue Reading »

We have a few contributors to the site now, all from different professional and creative areas. Although I have spent much of my life studying Art and Design and hold an Illustration degree, I would no longer consider myself an artist. I prefer the term “creative person”. I work primarily in web design and development so there’s a mixture of visual designing, Photoshopping and programming. I would say that although there is a delicate balance for a web designer between creative and technical, as far as most artists are concerned I am more technical than anything else.

The reason I say all of this is because I am going to talk about something that may at first sound like a technical matter, after all the title has got numbers in it. The internet is not only a tool for artists allowing them to communicate with other creatives and show their work off, but it is quickly becoming an important part of life. Creative people especially benefit from learning about the things around them which they can then harness and use within their work. Continue Reading »

So far we have 4 contributors for the site and it’s getting more visitors as we have a direct link at the bottom of ever page on Voodoochilli.net. Ideally we need around 5-10 contributors to make this site work properly, so if you are interested or you know someone that is please contact us.

You will be able to express your views about art, become an editor on a website, and help to inform others. What are you waiting for?

Ideally we are looking for people that are experienced artists or writers, and would prefer (although its not required) that you are a member of Voodoochilli.net.